Most of It Is True at CDBABY.com

The page is up! Order the new CD right here:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/zylstra

...And in the process be seduced by the recordings of trillions upons dozens (or so it feels) of other unknown, talented musicians who are just trying to get heard. If only Ashlee Simpson would grant a few of us each some small fraction from her ill-gotten wealth, with which we could take little bits of time off from our day jobs in order to fully invest our time and energies into creating excellent music. But I digress, right? Rock on.

Spring. Midwest. Tour. 2006.

All right!!

I may be jumping the gun a bit with my enthusiasm, but I have some serious plans for this tour thing. It starts now. My best tool, besides having the CD, is a list of Student Activities directors at nearly 3000 colleges across the country, and all of their contact info. I paid a pretty penny for this list at CDBaby.net, but I already feel like it was worth it.

I have no timeline yet; just a list of things to be done, in sequential order.

#1. Pick the schools I want to target- where do I feel I have the chance and the means to play? My criteria include:

that the school be in WI, MN, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH, PA, or NY;
that it has a good working piano and sounds system;
that, if lacking a piano, it at least has a good sound system into which I can plug my keyboard; that it is in a town where I could stay with a friend, family member or acquaintance.


#2. Make calls to the contacts at the desired schools to give them the heads up for an impending mailing and try to "talk up" the music/the performance that I could offer. (SB would be great help here)


#3. Assemble and send out press kits containing the following:

-a copy of the CD
-the bio/press release
-a quote/press page, with quotes that not only tell what I do but how I do it, and how it would be a good act for a college crowd
-a great cover letter, tailored to each individual receiving the kit.

#4. Make second round of calls to the contacts to see that they received the press kits and if they have any questions - try to get them to offer some possible gig dates. Get booked!

#5. Try to get booked for dates that make sense logistically/geographically.

#6. Once gigs are in place, confirm lodging and car rental/borrow.

#7. Send publicity posters/launch mini-publicity campaigns leading up to each show (a subject unto itself).

#8. Rock and roll.


Okay, so my list deteriorated into the abstract there near the end, but one thing at a time. Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done.

over and out

Even MTV can't ruin my mood

'Tis time for a new font, folks... I had to make a decision this past weekend, whether or not to plan a concert in Grand Rapids with a friend and his band for early December. It would have been very classy, very cool, very affordable, pressworthy... for various reasons, though, the plan was not coming together... and finally I had to abandon the idea. Mostly, it was going to be a costly weekend and even breaking even financially looked like a long shot. I realize that with the CD out, this is the time to be focussing on getting on the radar in some other regions.

Looking back on Big Day

Some reflections on the CD release show, which happened on Saturday night.

Great/good things:

1) A huge crowd. There were over 100 people in the room and 62 people took home CDs.

2) Great energy; people were really enjoying themselves.

3) There was a really nice Calvin turnout! That was good for the heart.

4) I was privileged to be backed by special guests Sarah B. doing harmony vocals and Kyle W. doing guitar, with both switching off on percussion duty.

5) A bonus, which I did not discover until a few days after the show: thanks to SB's dilligent efforts, my gig got into the Village Voice with a little blurb! Editor Chuck Eddy did a wee little write up which showed that he had actually listened to the CD and looked over the press kit. Rockin.' Read it here.


Things I would change or be on guard for in the future:

1) There was a constant buzz of talking during the show, and I tried to compensate by oversinging. Consequently, the hard fast songs were solid - piano-wise as well - but my singing on the ballads was really incongruous, because I was forcing it/overintensifying it. You can't do that, especially on a ballad. It's just not right.

2) Part of the reason for the constant buzz of talking was I went on a half hour late, so the act that came after me already had their crowd there. Gals on keyboards can sometimes find it difficult to grab the crowd, half of which is there ready to rock out to the band that comes after them. And, I confess, gals on keyboards can sometimes make good background music. This girl isn't usually one for the background ;) - but I've licked my minor wounds. Being there at all - getting to play to a lively, people-filled room - was a great gift. DON'T GET ME STARTED! Don't even get me started.

3) In the week or two leading up to the show, I'd have done a visual/flyer type of promotion in addition to all the email promo - which, granted, was very successful. The new CD has cool cover art and I haven't made use of it outside of that. Where did all the time go, leading up to this thing? There are so many areas to cover. Something for next time.

It's exciting though, to look back on the experience, see what worked, what was lacking, and reconfigure things for the next go. Up next on the docket: possibly a Grand Rapids gig in early December. Stay tuned!

Where To Buy "Most of It Is True" - the new album

Well, I was going to log in to the blog today and go off on a mild rant about how stressed out and sleep deprived I feel this week, but then I encountered the comments of friends wanting to know when and where they can buy the new CD. Now I need to resurrect the kindly-while-entrepreneurial piece of myself and subvert the faithless whiner. Why? Because this Saturday is coming, I've been preparing for it for months, and it's important to enjoy it and maximize the experience. No room for crippling nervousness (or excuses)!

Most of It is True - the title of my first full-length album - which releases officially on Saturday, will be available by the middle of next week both at Schuler's Books and Music on 28th St. in Grand Rapids, and online at CDBaby.com. I'll post again when it is literally on the shelves.

Gig-in-a-box

The CD release is in less than a week. This past week SB was gone on vacation and my industriousness deflated a bit during that time. Now and she is back, and we aim to get the disc out to a half dozen college-operated radio stations tonight or first thing tomorrow. I also need to send initial stock of the disc to CDBaby and to Schuler's.

Still, an Evite we sent out a week ago today is yielding some satisfying results. It's nice to get an *idea* of the number of people planning to show, however rough. So far, 16 people have RSVPed Yes, another 5 Maybe, while 49 have said No. I expected a lot of Nos because of people living in different states. But by that ratio, - if more than one out of every four people invited comes - that's still puts the Evited audience at 40-50 people.

But another exciting development: I was contacted by an old acquaintance from college, who also lives in NYC and had somehow gotten wind of my show. He's trying to organize a local Calvin alumni gathering and wondered if I would be interested in having my gig be just such an event. Well, sure!

I haven't heard back from Paste Music yet. Though it's a little disappointing, I've learned by this point not to take these things personally. It doesn't mean that my CD sucks and that they couldn't bring themselves to tell me, though it could easily mean that 1) they did listen, and it wasn't so phenomenal to them that they came rushing to my voicemail or 2) they did listen, and had a positive response, but more pressing issues have been taking priority over contacting me or 3) they did receive it, haven't listened to it, may never listen to it, but certainly are not going to bother with contacting me until/unless they do. Really, these are all acceptable possbilities. I'll just keep plugging away.